The kissing was unlike anything Simba had ever experienced before. To say that it was incredible was an understatement. It was so much more than that. It was passionate, heartfelt, and very, very real. Word could not describe how exhilarated he felt during the process. It was that amazing.

Maji finally released Simba from the kiss, leaving him gasping and panting for breath. "That was… amazing," he finally said, having forgotten about just how wrong this actually was. If Nala found out about this, then their relationship was over.

But right now, Simba didn't even care about Nala. In fact, he didn't even care about anyone at all. It was all irrelevant. All that mattered now was spending more romantic time with Maji. She was his new love in life.

"I take it that you enjoyed the feeling of pressing your skin against mine," Maji said, smiling down at the lovesick cub. "I believe your kind call it a 'kiss'. I can't say I don't find entertainment in it myself."

"Your… kind?" Simba said, his confused mind becoming even more muddled up. The world and everything around him had no meaning anymore. All he cared about was this moment right now. Nothing else had any significance. None of it. Not anymore.

"Oh, Simba," said Maji, using her ever-alluring tone of voice. She giggled, using one of her claws to stroke Simba underneath his chin. He purred in response. "I'm not your conventional lioness. I'm far more than that. I'm very, very special. In fact, this isn't even my true form. It's far more… aquatic."

Simba continued to purr, savouring every word that came out of her mouth. His heart was thumping so fast that it felt like it was going to explode. She was perfect – in every single way. He just couldn't contain his joy. "Yeah…"

"You see, Simba, I need you for a very special purpose. I've done it many times before, but it's not something that goes away very easily. In fact, it never goes away. Never ever, ever. Do you understand?"

Simba giggled in response, a dopey smile on his face. He didn't even know what was going on anymore. All he cared about was Maji…

"And I'm going to take it from you, Simba," she told him. "Oh, I'm going to take all of it. You don't even know what I'm saying anymore, do you?"

Simba did nothing. He just carried on smiling, completely lost in her entrancing beauty.

Maji laughed. "That happens a lot. My hypnotic beauty does wonders for the unwary individual who happens to cross my path. They're so unfortunate – but they feel so very lucky. All because of me, and the powers that I possess. You're very, very unfortunate, Simba. But you don't even know it."

Maji leaned forwards, and kissed Simba again. She closed her eyes, resisting the urge to let out a moan of pleasure.

"Simba…" She released him from the kiss. "I just can't contain myself. It's always the young ones. The older ones don't have enough juice in them. But you do. I can see it. Flowing through your body." Her eyes glinted with hunger. "I love it."

She eyed Simba up and down, a hungry grin forming on her face. "Maybe just a few more kisses first, though," she said.

"Because you are so very handsome."

And then they began to kiss again.

Nala coughed and spluttered as she emerged from the water, gripping the sand with her claws. Her head was throbbing with pain. It was the worst headache she'd ever had before. And the merciless heat of the sun wasn't making things better, either. She felt so unpleasant. She just wanted to close her eyes and drift off to sleep for ever and ever. Nothing would please her more than to do just that.

But she had a job to do. "Haiba, where the heck are we?"

Haiba was hunched over the sand, coughing up more and more water. "I – I don't know," he replied through a few coughs. He then reached into his mouth, and pulled out a long strand of seaweed. "Oh, man…" Disgusted, Haiba threw the seaweed aside, a sickened frown on his face. "That's gross on a level even I find disgusting."

"Well, think!" Nala commanded, looking around the area. In front of her, all she could see was the sand. A vast field of sand, which seemed to go on for ever. Maybe they had ended up in some kind of desert. "We have to be somewhere…"

Turning around, Nala saw the sea. That too seemed to go on for miles. Water or sand. She didn't know which one was more dangerous. They could drown in the water, but they could starve in the sand. They were stuck in a perpetual limbo of absolute misery.

"I believe they call it the beach," Haiba said, finally deciding to survey his surroundings. "Sand, sea, and se—" He stopped himself. "Well, that would be rude of me to say – but it happens in these places. Anyway…"

Taking a few steps forward, Haiba narrowed his eyes, straining to see if there was anything that lay beyond the endless desert. But there was nothing in sight. Just the sand. The neverending sand. "I believe the phrase rhymes with 'cluck'," he said in a half-joke.

"Duck?" Nala suggested.

Haiba smiled, shaking his head. "Never mind. Look, we've gotta figure things out. Where's Simba, for a start?"

Nala shrugged. "I don't know. One minute we were…" She struggled to remember. "Talking. We were… we were talking. Then everything just went black. And then I opened my eyes, and all I saw was you, waking me up. We were underwater. Then we swam right here – into this big desert."

"Same here," Haiba agreed. "That's all I remember, too. I woke up underwater, then I saw you. I knew I couldn't just leave you to drown, so I woke you up before we swam here." He hit the ground. "Darn. What are we going to do when there's nothing to help us?"

"And you're sure Simba wasn't underneath the water with us?" Nala asked.

Haiba shook his head. "Definitely. I would have noticed. I may find you attractive, Nala, but I wouldn't leave Simba in the water to drown. Besides, I wouldn't mind kissing either one of you, to be honest."

"This is hopeless," Nala said, sinking to the ground, defeated. "We're going to starve out here."

"Oh, don't' be like that," Haiba said. "We've got water to drink. Sure, it's salty, but normal 0water gets kinda tasteless after a while. And…" He scooped up a bit of sand with his paw, shoving it into his mouth and chewing on it thoughtfully.

"Well… the sand is okay, I guess." He swallowed it in one big gulp. "Kind of gritty."

Nala frowned. "I'm dead."